


there comes a time in every life to fly the nest, and some birds fly too far

by cjones7



Series: Loosely Connected Old Guard Fic [2]
Category: The Old Guard (Comic)
Genre: Angst, Catharsis, F/F, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Not a ship fic, Parental Estrangement for plot reasons, ask to tag, immortality issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:48:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24732586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cjones7/pseuds/cjones7
Summary: Another night has passed, and Nile and Andy sit together and watch another sunrise, this time on the roof of Nicky and Joe’s cozy safe house in Malta, lost in thought, cooling cups of coffee sitting next to them.Or: Nile has one last phone call with her parents before committing to the life of a wandering immortal
Relationships: Nile Freeman/ Andy | Andromache of Scythia (implied)
Series: Loosely Connected Old Guard Fic [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1788340
Comments: 24
Kudos: 162





	there comes a time in every life to fly the nest, and some birds fly too far

**Author's Note:**

> I decided Andy's "no contacting your loved one's ever" rule kind of forgot about modern technology like, phone call in general. Nile's parents are my OCs until proven otherwise. Nile struck me as someone with older sisters, so that's who Amy and Seine are. I decided Nile's parents named all their kids after rivers. Amy's short for Amazon.

Another night has passed, and Nile and Andy sit together and watch another sunrise, this time on the roof of Nicky and Joe’s cozy safe house in Malta, lost in thought, cooling cups of coffee sitting next to them. Andy’s been quiet, since Booker’s exile. Nile has too, but for very different reasons, she thinks. Nile has a question, and one that she knows will turn into several, and then maybe into someone accidentally-on-purpose falling off the roof, and since she’s learny Nicky is less than pleasant when woken up before eleven by the sound of fighting teammates, she is trying to find a way to phrase it delicately. But before she can, Andy’s steel-sharp voice cuts through the early morning stillness.

“Stop fucking around and _spill_ , whatever it is. I can’t take the moping.” Andy says, taking a sip of her coffee. Nile doesn’t say if anyone’s the world champion of moping six thousand years running it’s Andy, but she does save the insult for later. Instead, she replies:

“I want to call my parents.”

“Can’t. We talked about this.”

“....No, we didn’t. We talked about Booker going home to his wife and sons, and outliving them all. It’s not the same, not even a little.”

“Worst thing you can give them right now is hope, Nile. What if they start looking for you? What if they find us?”

“See, I’d like that argument, if they thought I was dead. But they don’t, now do they? They think I’ve run off AWOL somewhere. They probably are having to listen to all kinds of bullshit rumors. I just want one phone call, on a burner phone, that I will let you _personally_ blow to smithereens afterwards. You’re lucky I’m not asking for a visit. You’re right. I’ll probably forget them, one day. But they won’t forget me. They’ll go to their graves being the parents of the missing traitor daughter. I want to give them a better last memory of me.” Nile says, digging her nails into her palms, adamant to not cry in front of Andy, not again. For all her faults, all the little things about her that drive Nile crazy, she still wants to impress her, live up to her example. Which also pisses Nile off.

Andy sits, staring off into the sunrise a long while, before saying: “Fine. I suppose we can do that. But there are conditions.”

“Name them.” Nile says, tension like a steel rod through all her muscles.

“One: we do this now, regardless of time zones. If they don’t answer you use the fucking answering machine...that’s still a thing, right?” Nile nods, and Andy continues: “Two: I get to listen in. Three: I reserve the right to end the call whenever I deem necessary. If that’s not acceptable, we don’t need to do this.”

“.....No, that--That’s good. It’s what, 11:30 there? They’ll be up.” Nile says, almost shocked this worked, trying to hide the shake in her hands.

Andy hands Nile a burner phone, and she dials, hands still shaking. She stands, hoping that’ll boost reception, at least a little.

The phone rings three times before her mother picks up, her customary greeting ringing in Nile’s ears: “Freeman residence, Nancy speaking.”

“ _Mama_.” Nile breaths and she hasn’t called her mother that since she was twelve years old but if this is the last time--if this is the last time--she can’t help herself. “Mama, it’s me. It’s Nile. Can you put Daddy on the other line? This is important.” She says, keeping a waver out of her voice, Andy eyeing her from her perch on the edge of the roof, not even pretending she’s not listening.

“Baby he can’t hear too well on the phone--” But Nile cuts her mother off.

“Mama _please_.” And then the desperation is plain.

“Nile...is that my little Nile Crocodile.” And oh--oh that’s her dad alright, that’s her dad using a nickname from when he taught her to swim, when she was what--six years old? And now tears are threatening at the corners of her eyes. Andy stands, and walks over. Nile ignores her.

“Yeah--yeah dad, it’s me. Listen-- I don’t have much time, but I have a lot I need to say so--please, just listen.”

“Always, kiddo, always.” Her dad says and she swallows hard.

“Okay so--I know you’re hearing a lot about me, and I know none of it’s good. I know you’re worried, and probably a little ashamed--” And Nile pauses, grasps for a pretty lie, and finds one. “But I promise none of it’s true. I was recruited--”

“Recruited?” Her mom cuts in, and oh she could always taste a lie on her daughter’s voice.

“Recruited. And I can’t tell you by who, or why. It’s secret. Like, beyond top secret. Like, I’m risking so, so much by calling but...I had to. I--I’m not coming home. Probably ever. And I am so, so sorry. But this isn’t the kind of thing you can really say no to. And I can’t risk you guys, or Amy, or Seine. So I can’t come home. But I had to say--” And she breaks out in a little sob, then, and pitches forward. Andy catches her, pulls her close, keeps her steady. “I had to say I’m sorry. And that I love you. I love you so, so much, and that’s why I can’t come home. And that it was me who broke your great-grandma’s glass bowl, not Amy. And that I lied about not throwing the first punch when I got in that fight with Missy Skelton in fourth grade, and that you should give all my CDs to Amy’s kid, they’ll be vintage by the time she’s in high school, and I just--” But she can’t keep going. She cries and she cries and she cries and she cries. And Andy holds her.

“....Nile. Nile can you hear me honey?” Her mom’s voice cuts through her flurry of emotion.

“Yeah. Yeah mama, I’m still here.”

“Are they treating you well? And are you safe? And are you happy?” She asks.

“....I’m safe and as happy as I can be. And I think--we’re doing good work. And yeah--” She looks at Andy, who solidly refuses eye contact. “Yeah. They’re treating me well.”

“....I won’t pretend I understand. Or that I like this. But if this is the last thing you ever hear me say, I want you to know we’re _proud of you_. And have always been. You’re our baby girl, and you always will be.” Her mother says, the steel in her voice clearly matching Nile’s own.

“Absolutely. Always. We will love you for always. We will love you when we are long gone and only a memory.” And Nile’s breath hitches, she thinks, wildly, in near panic, for a split second, that he must _know_ , somehow. But instead all she can say is:

“ _Thank you_. You have no idea, what that means.” She says, voice steadier but tears still streaming.

“Be honest Nile, will we ever see you again?” Her mother asks and oh she wishes her mother didn’t ask the hard questions as much as she will miss that she does.

“...Probably not. Almost definitely not.” And then, a long silence.

“...I’m sorry, baby girl.” And that breaks Nile, completely fucking shatters her. That her mom can lose her youngest daughter and still apologize for her daughter’s own loss. She stays on the line and cries, a long time. Andy lets her. As her sobs turn to hiccups turn to silence, she realizes she is out of things to say. She looks to Andy, and Andy gives her a look that says: Your choice, you decide how to end it.

“....I got to go. I’m out of time. Thank you---thank you for this.” And Nile isn’t even sure what she’s thanking them for. Absolving her from the sin of abandonment, maybe.

“Thank you, Nile. For not leaving us in suspense. For giving us this.” And isn’t that just like her father, to give her words she will carry with her the rest of her goddamn life. She doesn’t care what Andy says. Even six thousand years from now, she will remember that.

“Love you.” She says, knowing it’s the last time.

“Love you too.” Her parents say, in unison. And at that, she hangs up, and cries again. Quieter this time, Andy gently guiding her back to the ground. And isn’t that strange, Andy and gentle, in the same context. This is a new side of her, and Nile files that away for later, when her heart isn’t quite so full of grief.

When Nile quiets down, Andy breaks the silence again. “...That was a kind thing you did for them.”

“...You think so?” And Nile hates the real doubt in her voice.

“I do. It was a certain kind of mercy, I think. I commend you for it.” Andy says, and Andy’s a lifelong liar and that is a long life of lies indeed, but something tells Nile this one isn’t bullshit.

“....Thanks.” Is all Nile can say, not quite knowing what to do with it. Another long moment of silence passes, and Andy speaks again:

“...Well. The food carts should be opening. Want something deep fried and disgusting for breakfast? My treat.”

“ _God_ yes” Nile says, happy for the distraction.

“I figure I owe you, after that.” Andy says, feigning nonchalance.

“I figure you do.” Nile says, smiling for the first time all morning.

And off they go together to find some breakfast, not quite arm in arm, a new understanding found, a weight lifted off both their shoulders, coffee and sunrise forgotten, but something else, perhaps, beginning to be found.

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like I hit way more of a groove here with Nile's voice than the first fic. Or maybe she's just easier to play off Andy than the others. I kinda like this "writing fic for something mostly fandomless" deal.


End file.
